LANCASTER COUNTY, AUGUST 8, 2012 - An unintended consequence of the passage of Act 73 has been a cap of $1000 on donations made by the Lanchester Landfill. For many years the Lanchester Landfill has been making sizable annual donations to community organizations. Bob Watts, General Manager of the Lanchester Landfill, said it all started when the Water Authority of the City of Chester raised the rates of some residents of Chester County for which it provides water to fund Chester City. Act 73, introduced by State Senator Dominic Pileggi (of the Media, Delaware County area) will place a cap of $1000 on donations to entities such as the fire companies, the library, the Eastern Lancaster School District and the Caernarvon Land Preservation Association, among others. The bill was signed into law by the governor on June 27 and it goes into effect in 60 days.

Watts said, “We will try to make donations before the law goes into effect. The days of giving $10,000 to $12,000 for a community project are behind us. The borough of Honey Brook has been saying they get a lot of traffic from the landfill (and) we have the Borough in mind. There are multiple unintended consequences. We had been donating $12,000 to the Elanco School District in lieu of taxes, but now we can only donate $1000.”

The Board is open and listening to new ideas. The Open House at the Lanchester Landfill is planned for Saturday, October 6. There will be lots of food, games for the kids, tours and useful information available. The Caernarvon Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary will have their food wagon there near the administration building. Watts said income raised by the food concession always helps the fire company.